A Tale of Two Counties

There’s an educational study in contrasts between two-thirds of the Emerald Triangle when looking at their respective cannabis ordinances and the policies and actions relative to enforcement.

The counties of Humboldt and Mendocino stand in stark contrast to one another in their approaches and implementation of their respective ordinances legalizing marijuana.

Humboldt County clearly had a keen understanding and appreciation of what constitutes a regulatory framework. Mendocino County has demonstrated that it lacks even a fundamental grasp of what is meant by the word “regulation.”

A regulatory framework quite simply is a system of regulations and the means used to enforce them.

The system of regulations is meaningless without enforcement. Everyone knows that if a law is not enforced, people are not going to obey it.

A regulatory package must have the necessary enforcement infrastructure that supports the control, direction, and implementation of the regulations.

Humboldt County comprehends that principle, Mendocino County could care less.

For example, as I’ve pointed out previously, Mendocino County’s ordinance prohibits the removal of a single tree for the purposes of cultivating marijuana. Outlaw growers have thumbed their noses at that regulation the moment it hit the books. Yet, county officials refuse to enforce the reg, even though state resource agencies such as CALFIRE which oversees the state’s forest practice program in the county, have warned the county its lack of enforcement regarding tree removal associated with marijuana cultivation.

The evidence is right out in plain sight that violations from illegal conversions of timberland for cannabis cultivation operations has never ceased and is ongoing.

Likewise with illegal diversions of water, to which this county turns a blind eye.

Up in Humboldt County they use Google Earth satellite imaging to enforce their ordinance. It’s my understanding they receive monthly imaging updates. They don’t have to send personnel out into the field to investigate, they use modern technology.

Even though Mendocino County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector has used digital imaging for years to catch un-taxed, non-permitted construction and development, the county’s cannabis “enforcers” evidently do not avail themselves of the tool.

Why don’t they?

Good question and I don’t have an answer.

In Humboldt County if you’re caught growing weed without a permit, you are subject to a $10,000 fine for every day you are in violation. Unlike Mendocino County, Humboldt also takes its role as a resource enforcer seriously.

To give you an idea of the scope of Humboldt County’s enforcement activities in the past two weeks, here’s a compilation of what they’ve done, which also included the eradication of approximately 20,000 pot plants:

• Two water diversion violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Six stream crossing violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Six water pollution violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Three depositing trash in or near a waterway violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Failure to file a hazmat business plan (up to $5,000 fine per day, per violation)
• No lids on hazardous waste containers (up to $70,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Mismanagement of used oil filters (up to $70,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Improper storage and removal of solid waste violations (up to $25,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Grading without a permit violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Building code violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Commercial cannabis ordinance violations (up to $10,000 fine per day)
• Stream management violations
• Sewage violations
• Three water diversion violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Commercial cannabis ordinance violations (up to $10,000 fine per day)
• Two improper storage and removal of solid waste violations (up to $25,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Twenty-three grading without a permit violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Eleven building code violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Three timber-clearing violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Three illegal pond violations
• Junk cars violations
• Three water pollution violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Two depositing trash in or near a waterway violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Stream crossing violation (up to $8,000 fine per day)
• Commercial cannabis ordinance violations (up to $10,000 fine per day)
• Improper storage and removal of solid waste violations (up to $25,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Grading without a permit violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Building code violations (up to $10,000 fine per day, per violation)
• Improper disposal of sewage violation
• Unpermitted well violation

The bottom line on this issue is that regulations without enforcement is actually de facto deregulation, which is the current state of affairs in Mendocino County. That’s just another way of saying Mendocino County’s cannabis ordinance is a failure.

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(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, and is also the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)